Route 10 Bridge, Northfield, Massachusetts
History
The town of Northfield first authorized a bridge at or near the site of the current bridge in 1810. The bridge was built by a private corporation with the town holding stock. The new bridge was destroyed in a flood after only a few years. A horse boat ferry, known as Bennett's Meadow Ferry, replaced the river crossing. In 1897, the state legislature authorized Franklin County to construct a second bridge at or near the site of the ferry at a cost not to exceed $35,000. The new bridge was designed by Edward Shaw of Boston and was opened to traffic in 1899. The bridge was one of the first bridges erected by a then novel method without the use of false works that has since become standard procedure. The 1899 bridge was later demolished and a third bridge (the current bridge) was constructed just south of the former bridge, resulting also in the slight realignment of the highway.
See also
References
- Bridge Inventory Record on NationalBridges.com.
- Massachusetts Historical Commission, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth (1982). MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report, Northfield (PDF). Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
External links
Footnotes
- ^ J.H. Temple,G. Sheldon, and M.T. Stratton, A History of the Town of Northfield, (J. Munsell, 1875)
- ^ Massachusetts General Court, Acts of 1897, Chapter 497
- ^ "A Novel Method of Bridge Erection; Connecticut River Bridge, Northfield, Mass.", Engineering News, Sept. 7, 1899.